Because of this War
by Random Stuff About Stuff
Summary: Now a series of oneshots. In a world where the only reality is war, there is a way. [No pairings] What does Lt. Jee have in common with a young mother? Fire Lord Ozai with a child? A prisoner with the Avatar? A soldier with a Freedom Fighter? Hope.
1. The End

A/N Yes, I'm back. I'm alive. I have writer's block on my other stories. And this story is not funny in the least. What can I say? I'm busy, I'm depressed, home alone, and its dark outside. That always makes things worse.

Anyway, this takes place after Iroh's alleged death. Zuko has recently joined the Gaang, but there are no guarantees that he's going to stay. No, these don't count as spoilers since none of that has happened yet. And if the newest episode (City of Walls and Secrets?) disagrees with anything I said here, sorry, haven't seen it yet.

Unfortunately, there are minor spoilers for Secret of the Fire Nation. Very minor, and if you haven't seen it, you might not even catch them, but they are there.

Dedication: Because you were always there for me when I needed it the least. And you stuck around when I really did need you, too.

Disclaimer: _Looks up name of Avatar writers to ask if I look like them to you. Decides to be lazy and puts this up instead._

* * *

It would only be a few weeks now. Not much more than a month. And then the Fire Nation would strike the final blow. And the world would end. For Zuko, at least. 

And at the moment, he couldn't bring himself to be heroic and selfless and think about how many would die. All that he could think of was that he wasn't even going to reach his seventeenth birthday, much less become Fire Lord and do any of the things he had wanted to do with his life. His life, his world would end.

"Hey." The Avatar walked up beside him.

_Go away_, Zuko thought. _I'm contemplating my impending doom._ But what he said was something different.

"What do you want?"

In phrasing.

"I just want to talk." The younger boy raised his hands in a peaceful gesture.

"I don't."

Aang considered that for a moment. He remembered how he had felt when he'd lost Appa. How Katara had helped him through it. What had she said? He couldn't remember any of the words. They had been lost in the chaos of the following days, in the war and confusion and death.

All he remembered was that she had offered him a hug, and he had refused it. He wondered if she had been hurt. Was there still time to apologize? In a few weeks, it might be too late. If he couldn't do this right, it would all end without another chance for anyone.

"I…" Aang paused, wondering how to put this into words. "I just wanted to say… I'm sorry. About what happened to your uncle."

Zuko turned and glared at him. Why was this boy so insistent that they were friends?

"I want to get rid of my sister, Avatar. Not save the world. Not be a hero. I just want this to be over."

Hesitation. Aang didn't know what to say. Thoughts flashed into his mind, but no words, nothing that could help Zuko.

"In the… I mean… With…"

"Say what you mean and get it over with," Zuko snapped. He mentally vowed not to listen to anything the Avatar said. It wasn't as if any of this mattered. In a few weeks, it would be the end.

"Since I came to this time, I've met a lot of people," Aang blurted. "I've met a boy who grew up without being able to walk, because of this war. I've met a girl who lost her mother, because of this war. I met people… children, not much older than me, who had to hide abilities that were once considered a blessing, because of this war. I've met people who never once said a happy word never once laughed, because of this war.

"I've met children with losses so great that they were driven insane. Children who refused to speak, because they didn't know anything to say that wasn't terrible. Children who thought that it was _their_ responsibility to protect everyone, even the adults. Children who killed other children, because of where they were born. Because of this war.

"I've met people with only one parent, with no parents at all. I've met people who never knew what peace was like, who grew up, lived, and died in a world that was torn and destroyed by war.

"People like your uncle."

Zuko turned away. He wished that it was easier to ignore this boy. He wished it was easier not to care, even if it was almost the end.

But Aang wouldn't be quiet. He wasn't finished.

"And the odd thing was, I realized that nothing ever really ended. Life didn't stop because of a war. People still got married, they still had children, even in a world that was destroying itself with a war that might never end.

"I met a girl who was born without ever so much as seeing a sunrise, but who still laughed, and joked, and _Bended_ like any other kid. I met a boy who was hardly old enough to be trusted to go to the bathroom on his own, shouting 'Show no fear!'

"I met a boy who learned to fly. I met a family that had a baby even though they were refugees. A family that named the baby Hope. I met a group of people who sang songs, completely ignoring the fact that they could die a thousand horrible ways, any day now.

"I met a girl who could still go on about pink auras and even join the circus, no matter what her people were doing to everyone else. I met people who fell in love, who laughed, who became friends with people they knew could die any day now.

"I met people, children, not much older than I was who learned to do incredible things that they would never have been able to do in another time or place. They could fly, when the couldn't walk. They could see, when they were born blind. They could have festivals, and complain about food, get into trouble, grow up, no matter what terror was going on around them.

"Because of this war."

Aang fell silent for a moment. He stared at his hands, hoping that Zuko understood what he had met, hoping that he hadn't said too much, wondering if he should say more.

"Nice speech," a voice behind him said. Turning, Aang realized that Katara, Sokka, and Toph had joined them.

"But it needs finishing," added Katara.

To everyone's surprise, it was Zuko who took up the thread.

"Since I was banished, I've been all over the world. I've seen people from places that I thought were backwards and uncivilized, and realized that they actually might know more about the intricacies of the world than I did, just because they were honest, and good, and didn't stop to worry about what people thought of them.

"I've met a girl who taught herself to do incredible things, things that people in my homeland can only do after years of tutoring and lessons, and daily practice. I've met a boy who learned to be a warrior, and protected his people with nothing more than a few children and a stick for years.

"I've met a child who was told for as long as she could remember that she couldn't do anything, but still grew up to do more than anyone could imagine. I've met a boy who had amazing powers, and could actually bring himself to use them. To pretend that he wasn't a child, and take on responsibilities that not even the most powerful adults in this world have ever managed.

"And…" here Zuko paused for a moment, and then shook himself and continued. It wasn't as if anything mattered, right before the end.

"And I've met a boy who I should have met a long time ago, who hid himself far away from where anyone in the Fire Nation might see him, because of this war. Who pretended to be someone else, someone who wasn't good, or kind, someone who didn't…"

"Care," finished Katara.

"I wonder why," Sokka mused.

"Probably," Toph said, "Because he thought it was the end."

"He was wrong." Aang stood up, and looked at his friends. "It wasn't the end. It _isn't_ the end.

"It's the beginning."

And somehow, Zuko believed him.


	2. Care

By popular request (yes, it counts as popular request when I ask) this is now a series of drabbles. Many will include minor or unnamed characters, so don't get used to the Zuko-angst that we saw in the last chapter. That gets boring to write after a while, and I'm sure it gets boring to read. I probably won't include OCs as my main characters. I may have to name someone, but if you look closely enough, every one of them is in the show at some point.

Also, because I feel like it, each chapter will include a dedication. None of the dedications will tell you who it's dedicated to, just why. That's the interesting part, after all. I know who I'm talking about, and nobody else really cares.

This one is about one of the Yu-Yan archers who shoots at Aang in one episode. For those who have read my other stories, yes, I used the name Shiven in _Mary-Sues of All Kinds2._ I like it.

Anyway, this is a plot line that I've had in my head for a while. I personally think the Yu-Yans are all very young. Look at a screenshot of one of them sometime. They all look like kids. And that's why the oldest Yu-Yan mentioned is eighteen. Hope you like it!

Dedication: Because you always changed every fairy story, every nursery rhyme, so that the damsel in distress got tired of being in distress and saved herself. Prince Charming would just have to live with his bride being tougher than he was.

* * *

It was never fun to be the bad guy. It was never nice to be the one that everyone was scared of. Nobody liked it. 

Or did they?

There were four Yu-Yan archers to each room, one to each of the small bunk beds that pressed up against the walls.

Shiven, at fifteen, was the youngest of the roommates. Tai was eighteen, and Adit was sixteen. He wasn't quite sure how old Vadin was, he'd never asked.

None of them seemed to mind being part of the evil nation that was so feared by everyone else.

His mother used to say that anyone who _didn't_ mind was either ignorant or sadistic. Shiven was supposed to be proud that he was one of the few who was neither, who did mine.

Somehow, being the good guy wasn't that fun, either.

And everyone else seemed so... happy. Tai was smart, probably one of the smartest girls he'd ever met. She was nice enough, definitely not the kind of person his mother had described. But she never seemed to mind.

Adit was a slightly crazy boy with a giant grin eternally on his face. He wasn't an idiot, though, he knew what was going on all the time. And he was most certainly not evil or cruel. Only a year older than Shiven, the joker was forever looking after all of them. Adit said that the four of them were the closest thing to family that anyone among the Yu-Yans could remember. He was probably right.

But, whether he was right or not, Adit never seemed to mind, either.

Vadin was tall and thin, and very quiet. He rarely spoke without being asked a question first, and his answers were always simple, but he was definitely very wise for his age. Whatever that was.

As solitary as the boy might be, he was always good to the other three. But he never seemed to mind, either.

Nobody really did, after all. Maybe it was a Fire Nation trait. But Shiven was Fire Nation, too, and he minded.

Maybe he wasn't Fire Nation. But as much as he would love to deny it, it was clear that he was. Under the Yu-Yan cap that he and his friends always wore, despite the tan they had all acquired from years of practicing in the sun, he was clearly as Fire Nation as anyone else.

It was these morbid thoughts that he was thinking when Adit found him sitting silently on his bunk.

"Uh-Oh! Tai, I think Shiven's going to start acting like Vad on us!"

"Adit, knock it off," Tai protested. "I swear, sooner or later you're going to shorten some noble's name, and get yourself in an Agni Kai! Then where will you be?"

"Defeating the highest-ranked Benders in the Nation and making a name for myself?" suggested Adit.

"Or getting yourself killed because you're not a Bender."

"Why are you always so pessimistic?"

"Why are you always so stupid?"

"Guys, leave me alone," Shiven interrupted. Both of his friends looked at him in surprise.

"Maybe you're right, Adit," Tai whispered in mock fear. "What do you think, Vadin?"

The boy only raised his eyebrow. Even though he did speak occasionally, he didn't answer stupid questions.

Shiven glared at the three of them and flopped down to go to sleep.

He only got a few moments of rest before Adit dumped a bucket of water on him when Tai's back was turned. To no one's surprise, the youngest boy sat bolt upright, spluttering angrily.

"Adit! What was that for!" he screeched.

The archer shrugged. "I felt like it?" he suggested.

Before Tai had a chance to attempt to make peace between them, Shiven had suddenly launched himself off the bed and tackled Adit. Giving up any notion that the boys might stop fighting any time soon, Tai sat down next to Vadin on the bed across from Shiven.

"Why are boys so stupid?" she asked.

"Being a boy, I can't really answer that, now can I?" he retorted.

"Point taken."

It was a while before they really did settle down long enough to go to bed. And it wasn't until he was curled up against the wall listening quietly to Tai's soft snores from the farthest bed and Adit rolling around above him that Shiven realized that, for a moment, he hadn't cared, either.

* * *

In the morning, Shiven woke up no different than he normally did. The first sound he heard was that of his own body slapping onto the floor. The first thing he saw was Adit's grinning face above him. Before he had a chance to yell at the other boy for shoving him out of bed yet again, they heard Tai's feet hitting the ground softly and a small gasp. 

"Shiven, Adit," she hissed. "Vadin's gone."

Although the trio spent the rest of the day searching for their wayward friend, even missing practice to find him, he never appeared. And although the other Yu-Yans organized suitable search parties, it was quite clear that they never really cared.

Because no matter whether or not they admitted it, everyone knew that Vadin wasn't coming back. And everyone knew why he had run away.

And no matter how much they told themselves they were different, and they really did care, they didn't.

But somewhere, far away, a young boy with no voice and a nickname of Longshot really, truly did.

* * *

Meh. That turned out horrible. I had a way in my mind that I wanted it to be, but it just didn't work. I liked the story, but I hated the style, if you know what I mean. I could do better, but it's been long enough anyway since I posted last, so I'm just gonna put it up and fix it later if I ever have time. Tell me what you think! 


	3. Illusion

A/N Sorry it took me so long. I've been busy with homework and other websites that I've recently discovered. I got this idea from a combination of a song, a book, and a headache. I've been wanting to make this a longer original story with the same premise, but for now, it's just a oneshot on some fanfiction website.

Sela is the mother in _Zuko Alone_. Much of this takes place before that happens, though. Miyuki and Ying are named after different characters who appear in other episodes. I'll tell you in the next chapter, and for now leave you to guesswork. Panya's name is not from the show at all.

Dedication: Because it was slimy.

When Sela was fourteen, she and her family traveled to the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se. Her father was a merchant, and they were going there for trade opportunities.

The house they stayed in was the nicest that she had ever seen. She and her sisters each had their own room, and there was an apple tree in the back yard. Sela loved the apple tree. Little Miyuki climbed it all the time, and even Ying, the eldest, spent some time in the branches, but only when she wasn't in danger of ripping her nice skirts.

The only thing Sela loved more than the apple tree was the museum. They had a room where every few feet there was a mirror. Glancing into one of them you could see reflections for feet behind you. Sometimes it even looked like a tunnel.

But you could never tell, with those mirrors. Something you thought was real might be an illusion, and something you thought was an illusion could very well be reality.

After a few days spent stopping at every turn, Sela thought she had a handle on the way things went. She thought she knew what was reality and what was illusion.

She was wrong.

Sela turned left at a reality, and kept straight on going through illusion. She smacked straight into the intangible chimera, and knocked it over.

Illusion is made of glass and easily shattered.

As one mirror illusion tumbled into the next, Sela jumped back to avoid it and crashed into a third.

"Three mirrors," said a voice behind her. A smiling woman toward over the girl on the ground, surrounded by glass. She didn't try and help her up.

"Break a mirror, seven years bad luck," the woman said. "Break three mirrors, twenty-one years."

Sela turned and ran, turning right at illusion and dodging reality.

"Twenty-one years!" the woman called after her. "The thirteenth day of the sixth month twenty one years from now! The curse will end then, if ever!"

When Sela was fifteen, her small town was invaded by the Fire Nation, and her father was killed. The Fire Nation occupied their town for five years.

When Sela was sixteen, Miyuki developed Earthbending abilities and was taken away. They never did see her again.

When Sela was seventeen, Ying's husband was murdered by the Fire Nation, and she killed herself, leaving her only son to be raised by her sister.

When Sela was eighteen, the boy took it into his head to become a hero, and ran off to fight in the war, taking with him a good half of the young men and women in the town, leaving the remaining few defenseless.

When Sela was nineteen, the Fire Nation was driven out of their home, but at a terrible price. Instead of living under the occupation of a force they could hate, they lived under the rule of a tyrant who they must love.

A young Earthbender named Gow lead a band of soldiers into the village and left the Fire Nation behind... but not the days of terror that they lived in.

It wasn't until years later that they would discover that Gow and his soldiers were renegades, and not the voice of the Earth Kingdom army, only of their own whims. But by then, it was too late.

When Sela was twenty she was married to a farmer named Gansu. Several days later, half their lands were burned in a terrible fire that seemed to have no source. Gansu didn't blame her. The rest of the village did.

When Sela was twenty-one, she had a son named Sen Tzu. The boy was born on the anniversary of the Fire Nation's first blow against the rest of the world. As he got older, the only thing Sen Tzu would ever lie about was his birthday.

When Sela was twenty-two, she had a daughter named Panya. Gow suggested that when she reached marrying age, she become his bride. Sela sent her off to Gansu's cousin in Omashu.

When Sela was twenty-six, she had a son named Lee. He was born on the anniversary of the day the Fire Nation took over their city. They told everyone he was born the day after. Nobody believed them. Everyone knew, after all, that Sela's family was bad luck.

When Sela was twenty-seven, half of their remaining farmland was burned down. This time the perpetrator was caught, but nobody was entirely convinced.

When Sela was twenty-eight, Lee wandered into the barn Gansu was building and it collapsed. He was untouched by the falling beams through a stroke of luck alien to the family. But he was still trapped.

It wasn't until nightfall that ten-year-old Sen Tzu found his brother and the three of them dug the little boy out. Lee was unconscious, and slept through the next day. Sela didn't.

When Sela was thirty-four, Sen Tzu and a few of the _real_ soldiers from their town traveled to the warfront in an attempt to drive the Fire Nation off. Sen Tzu survived. But he didn't come home.

When Sela was thirty-five, they got a message that Sen Tzu's battalion was captured. Gansu rode off to find him, and when he was gone, Lee was kidnapped by Gow and his ruffians. He was rescued by a scarred stranger who they had offered hospitality to the night before.

It wasn't until after Lee was safe that they realized the man was a Firebender. They hadn't known that. Nobody believed them.

The next night, the last of the family with no luck snuck out of the village, looking back only once to see their home ablaze.

"Mom," Lee asked once they were safe. "Remember that curse you had on you?" Sela could only nod. "When was it supposed to be broken?"

His mother sighed. "Yesterday, if ever." Yesterday... the day their rescuer was revealed as the enemy. The day they had lost their home, and the only hope they would ever have of finding their family again.

"Oh." It was quite clear that the latter was true, and the curse would never be lifted. "That's good then," Lee commented, smiling.

"Good?" Sela glanced up over the small campfire they had made.

"Good," affirmed Lee. "The curse is gone."

"Lee," his mother reminded him, "Yesterday, they day our luck supposedly returned, you were rescued by a Fire Nation man..."

"But still rescued."

"We lost our home..."

"But kept our lives."

"And any hope of finding your father and brother again."

"No we didn't."

"They'll never know where to look for us," Sela despaired. "We can't stay close to the village, or we'll be killed, and they'll have no idea which direction we left in."

Lee shrugged. "So? They'll find us. Sen Tzu found me the night I was trapped in the barn. And he was born on a bad luck day! To a bad luck family! If he can do that, he can do anything."

"No one is all-powerful," Sela warned him, but Lee had already rolled over and would hear no more against it.

Sela considered her son's words for a moment. She was out in the wilderness, with no ties to the home she had grown up in, with nobody but a young boy who couldn't believe for a moment that they wouldn't be okay. Lee and Sen Tzu were both born on bad luck days, and the very nature of her life was that it was intended to be hard for a stupid mistake she had made long ago.

And to make matters worse, they were sleeping under an apple tree, as if nature itself was taunting her with memories.

Maybe breaking a mirror was good luck after all.


	4. Reality

Miyuki is the Herbalist's cat in _The Blue Spirit,_ and Ying is the woman in _The Serpent's Pass_ and _Zuko Alone_. Nobody actually guessed in a review, so virtual cookies to everyone in general.

I'd just like to add that I changed Sela's ages, partially because, as MormanMaiden pointed out, she married much later than she could have in their world, but mostly because I realized that I had said Sen Tzu went off to war at age eleven. Oopsie on my part.

This is a follow-up to the last chapter, and I have the next vaguely planned out, which won't have anything to do with these characters, unless I _really_ can't finish the story in two chapters.

A special note: my brother and I were each born the day before or the day after what was or what would become the anniversary of an American tragedy: the assasination of a president, and 9/11. That's what gave me the idea of Lee and Sen Tzu's birthdays. A lot of their bad luck has happened to me or people I know.

Also, this chapter contains the only dedication that I'll tell you who it's to, because it's dedicated to someone who many of you know:

Dedication: to my reviewers, Jess Readin', MormanMaiden, Jesus.Lives, KelseyAlicia, Welikemilk, Zelscar, Bad Hallelujah, zoorhlm13, AvatarWolf, WolfZuko, Inumaru12, FieryMetis, loalaa, Rose Ellen Marsh, and loaned, for telling me to keep going with this, and for brightening my spirits everyday with a kind review. Without you and my other reviewers, I'd probably never write anything outside of school.

* * *

When Lee was born, his mother hid him away all night until the morning came and she could tell her friends about his birth. She told them all that he was born the day after he actually was. The day after the anniversary of the Fire Nation's invasion of their village.

It wasn't true. From that day on, Lee was branded as a bad-luck child. His whole family was. His mother had broken three mirrors when she was younger, so they were all cursed. Sen Tzu, Lee's brother, was born on the anniversary of the Fire Nation striking the first blow against the rest of the world.

Even their father, Gansu, seemed to have the worst luck in the world. Everything around their farm was always breaking, or burning down. Especially burning down. From a very young age, Lee learned to hate fire.

That was the reality of their world. Fear the flames, young children were taught. They will burn you. The Fire Nation is in control, and you must fear them.

Fear the ones in command. Fear the ones with power. And most of all, fear the ones who are stronger than you.

Lee was never much good at the fear stuff.

When he was four, he was told that the barn was getting old and needed fixing. He should beware of it. So, naturally, by the end of the day he ended up unconscious underneath a fallen bean in the barn. Of course.

But his brother, Sen Tzu, found him under there and, together with his parents, dug the little boy out.

From then on, Sen Tzu would always be a hero in Lee's eyes. The two brothers were inseparable for six years. After that, Sen Tzu went to war.

Lee's habit of getting into trouble continued unchecked. But now, Sen Tzu wasn't around to get him out of trouble.

* * *

A year after his brother's departure, Lee and a friend decided to throw eggs and Gow and the other soldiers 'protecting' their village.

It was Lee's crazy luck that they just so happened to blame it on a passing stranger with a scar and an ostrich horse. It was beyond even _his_ style of getting out of trouble that the stranger not only didn't alert the soldiers to Lee's presence, but also stood up to them.

"You see who did it?" Gow snapped at the stranger.

"No," replied the man. He placed his hand on something out of Lee's vision strapped to his waist. Lee bet it was a sword.

"That's your favorite word, no?" snarled Pell.

"Egg had to come from somewhere," the leader pressed.

"Maybe a chicken flew over," the swordsman deadpanned. A soldier found this funny. Gow didn't.

The thug stole the man's grain, and warned him off. "The penalty for staying is a lot steeper than you can afford," he threatened. "Trust me."

Lee waited until they were gone, and then beckoned at his friend Chan to come with him. Chan turned and ran. Anyone who could stand up to the soldiers was undoubtedly stronger than them, and they were stronger than the two boys. The stranger was to be feared.

"Thanks for not ratting me out," Lee told the stranger, grinning. The man (now that he could see him, he didn't seem much older than Sen Tzu) grunted and hopped onto his mount. Lee grabbed the reigns. "I'll take you to my house and feed your ostrich horse for you."

The man hesitated.

"Come on, I owe you," Lee prompted. The man nodded sharply and followed him.

For a while, Lee thought he had found a friend in the stranger. He reminded Lee of his brother, strangely enough. That was a role nobody had filled. He thought for a while that maybe things might seem better to everyone else. Life sure seemed great to him.

But things don't always work out the way we want to, and before long, Sen Tzu was reported captured so Lee's father had to go after him. Soon the man was revealed to be a Firebender, and Lee and his mother had to flee the village for harboring an enemy.

They decided to travel to Omashu. It was the nearest large city, and where Gansu and Sen Tzu would probably travel when they found their family gone.

There was an unspoken 'if' in the air. Sela wasn't quite sure that they would survive.

Lee was.

* * *

They were halfway to Omashu when they ran into a group of refugees from the once-great city. They told the travelers that the Fire Nation had taken over another place, and the survivors had fled after the Avatar had gotten them out.

Now there was nowhere to meet Gansu and Sen Tzu. But they had survived.

The Fire Nation seemed unstoppable. Wherever they went, war was sure to follow. And they were always just ahead of the pair, keeping their path a constant trail of misery and defeat.

But among the refugees from Omashu, they found a young woman named Panya. As it turned out, she was Lee's sister, a year younger than Sen Tzu, who had been living in Omashu to escape the ruffians who controlled their home.

"I'm sorry, little boy," an old woman told Lee one day as the refugees traveled together towards Ba Sing Se. "You must be terribly upset that your father and brother are missing."

"But my sister is found," Lee reminded her. "And I'm alive."

"Growing up in the middle of a war..." she began, preparing to launch a speech.

"Is still growing up in the first place," commented a voice from behind them. Lee turned to find his sister watching with a small smile on her face.

"And wars don't last forever," Panya said comfortingly. "The Avatar has returned, we all saw him. Things will change. Soon."

And they would.

* * *

GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! NOOOOOO! I wanted to end it NOW! But I didn't get the part I really wanted in there. So there'll be another bit about this family in the next chapter. I swear, that's where it'll end. Sorry, this wasn't too great, consider it a plot advancement segment. If the writers can do it, I can. 


	5. If It Hadn't Been

I swear, this is the last part of Lee's story. Honestly. Anyway, this takes place after the war is over. I don't want to make predictions that render the story obsolete when they're proved wrong, so all I'll predict is that the war will end. Because random civilians who've never met any of the main characters won't care whether Katara marries Zuko or Aang or whatever. So believe whatever you want about the main characters, they're not in this.

Also, I know I said that I wouldn't have any OCs as my main characters, and I swear, Panya isn't. There's a woman in Omashu who's never seen very clearly, just in the background. That's Panya. I swear, she's in the series! She has short hair and pentapox.

Dedication: Because you always smiled, no matter what. And no matter what, I always smiled back. Thanks.

* * *

When the war ended, people told Panya that she was lucky. The luckiest of the refugees who were avoiding the war. She was young enough to build a life for herself, but old enough that she could still remember what the war had done, even for her grandchildren.

Panya told them that she wasn't lucky, and she already had a life, and what did they mean, they couldn't, of course they could..

They didn't believe her, but then, people rarely ever believed that everyone's life wasn't better than theirs for whatever reason. They didn't like to.

And Panya was happy that the war was over. It had brought terrible things upon them. She had lost so many people who were so important to her. She had been forced to grow up away from her family. Like the mirrors that her mother had broken, it was a curse.

But, like the mirrors, it made them strong.

If it hadn't been for the war, Panya wouldn't have known anything beyond her home.

If it hadn't been for the war, Lee would never be able to defend himself.

If it hadn't been for the war, Sela would be a normal housewife, completely dependant on her husband.

If it hadn't been for the war, Sela might have had a husband to depend on.

If it hadn't been for the war, Lee wouldn't have had to defend himself.

If it hadn't been for the war, Panya wouldn't have known anything beyond her home.

She wouldn't have known the cities, the fighting, the yelling, the noise. She wouldn't have known the guards, the soldiers, the orphans.

She wouldn't have known the struggles, the sorrows, the pain. She wouldn't have known the people who got through it all.

And that was one blessing the war had brought down on them.

Because of the war, the mother Panya knew was a strong, independent woman who could get past anything.

Because of the war, the younger brother Panya knew was an optimistic, hopeful boy who would get past everything.

Because of the war, the older brother that Panya knew had never existed in her life.

Because of the war, the father that Panya knew was only a vague memory.

But it was because of the end that they were going home.

After nearly a year of travel, they were going home. Home to Omashu, for most, what had once been called New Ozai but was now renamed after the star-crossed lovers out of legend.

After all, naming a city after people because they were in love was much better than naming a city after someone because he led his people to a war.

But to Panya, home was about to be the place she had been born, and hadn't been in seventeen years.

Home was where her family had been known for their bad luck.

Home was where they had fled after a Firebender has rescued them.

Home was where her family was.

Panya wished that she could say her memories returned as they trouped up the path together. But really, she had only lived here for a year of her life, until her parents deemed her old enough to travel away from the soldiers who would run her life.

The soldiers were gone now, driven out by the war. Only the bravest had stayed.

"Things have changed, a little, since we left," Lee told her. "The farm's probably a little run-down, but I promise you'll like it as soon as we fix it up." He gave her a hopeful look.

"I'm sure I will," Panya replied.

The farm was a little 'run-down' as Lee had put it, but not much.

The first thing they saw was the roof of the barn. Part of it was missing, and there were two figures up on top, fixing it.

"Who could that be?" wondered Sela. Everyone walked a little faster at the idea that someone else was living in the farm now.

As they got closer, they heard the alarm of animals waiting outside.

"Mom?" asked Lee. "If someone else is there, where will we go?"

"I'm sure we can reach an agreement, dear," Sela replied distractedly.

As they neared the farm, it was quite clear that people were living here. The animals were well-fed and groomed, there were footprints covering the entire area, and a bit of smoke was rising from the chimney.

The animals' alert was obviously loud enough that the pair on top of the barn heard them. The smaller one looked up and then glanced over to the larger. A few words that Panya couldn't hear were exchanged, and then they turned and began climbing down.

Lee began walking faster and Sela fidgeted with a strand of hair.

The two groups met just outside the door to the house.

The pair who were now living in the farm were two men, a younger one about a year older than Panya, and an older man who might have been his father.

The son was tall and thin, with stringy dark hair. His father was absolutely huge, with a beard and a lined, sad face. Something about them seemed familiar, but Panya wasn't sure.

Both had shocked looks on their faces, mirroring Sela and Lee's.

It was Lee, of course, who broke the silence. He uttered a squeal of joy that had always reminded Panya of a seagull and ran towards the younger man, shouting two words.

"Sen Tzu!"

The man, her brother, laughed and embraced the younger boy. "Lee!" he exclaimed. "What happened? When Father and I came home, you and Mother were gone!"

As Lee explained in the high-pitched, rapid speech he always used when he was excited, Sela was embracing the older man. Panya realized that this must be her father, Gansu.

"Hey, Sen Tzu!" Lee exclaimed suddenly, grabbing Panya's hand. "Guess who this is?"

"Hmm..." Sen Tzu obviously had no idea. Gansu glanced over at her with a confused expression on his face.

Now Panya knew why he had looked so familiar. He looked just like Lee.

"Alright, I give up," her (older) brother said finally. "Who is it, Lee?"

"It's Panya!" exclaimed the boy. Panya couldn't see Gansu's reaction, but she could see Sen Tzu's. It wasn't much.

"Uhmm... that's nice... Who is Panya again?"

"Your sister," said a voice from behind her. Gansu looked dumbstruck, but had still managed to talk. "We sent her to Omashu when she was very small. When I heard that the Fire Nation had taken over that great city, I assumed you were..."

"Dead?" asked Panya. "I survived. I guess I just got lucky."

"We don't get lucky," Sen Tzu replied bitterly. "We don't have any luck."

Panya glanced around at her family, her whole, real family.

"Yes, we do."

* * *

It's done! Yay! I knew I could finish it in this chapter! Not that it really ended up the way I wanted it to. I wanted this whole thing with people rewarding each other and one of the main characters would find Gansu and Sen Tzu for them. But oh, well. I like the way it turned out.

Anyway, what I wanted to say is happy daylight savings day, and that I have the next few chapters planned out (if I can remember them) but I'm not sure how quickly I'll be able to update. Still, I know what I want to do. I love drabble series. That way I can get all the plotbunnies to go away!


	6. Alive

I was writing one about Ozai, but I wasn't getting anywhere, and then MormanMaiden inspired me with her story _The Cabbage Convention_. So, I have decided to support a minor character and join the Cabbage Revolution! Join us and keep these characters alive! Anyway, this is because I realized that we never do find out what happens to Jee and the crew after Zhao commandeers them. This is my version.

_Dedication: Because you were always there for me. And I didn't even know you._

* * *

Lieutenant Jee didn't want to admit to being wrong. He didn't _like_ to admit to being wrong. He was wrong from time to time, he knew that. He just didn't like it. 

And another thing he didn't like was serving under Admiral Zhao. And he didn't want to serve under Admiral Zhao, but he didn't have a choice, so he wouldn't complain about that.

Well, actually, Lieutenant Jee wouldn't complain about many things, unless he thought he could gain something from complaining. And with Admiral Zhao, as the crew learned quickly, nothing could be gained.

When they were informed that they were being recruited by the cruel-hearted admiral, nobody was very happy. They moaned and whimpered and wondered if they would ever see their homes again. Only when Zhao was out of sight, though.

Jee assured them that they would be home in no time.

"Things will get better from here," he promised.

"But what if they don't?" panicked the helmsman.

"Admiral Zhao is not known for his kindness," the engineer agreed. "Nor is he known for taking good care of those under his command."

"But he's no fool," argued Jee. "He doesn't need more men, especially ones who don't know what he wants them to do, or how he does things." Everyone calmed down slightly to listen to their leader, so the Lieutenant raised his voice in order to appeal to them all.

"The only reason Admiral Zhao wants us on his crew is so that Prince Zuko doesn't have us on his. Believe me, he'll send us home the minute this ship is out of sight. We'd just be in the way, and he doesn't know if we have any loyalty to our former commander. Zhao's a strategist, not a lunatic."

The next day, they were given their new orders and assigned to the squad invading the North Pole.

Lieutenant Jee was wrong.

Not long after, they heard news that General Iroh had come out of retirement and was also on this mission. Nobody ever saw him, though.

Several days of preparations passed before Admiral Zhao uttered the fateful words that sealed the fates of many.

"My fleet is ready," Zhao announced one day, although none of them heard him. "Set a course for the Northern Water Tribe."

Lieutenant Jee was responsible for sending up a signal from the ship with his Firebending.

_At least,_ Jee thought _I'm actually using this for once. I should practice more._

And with that irrelevant reflection running through his mind, Jee sent a sharp blast of flame through the signal hole and sealed the fate of his crew.

Meanwhile, a hundred other Firebenders did the same.

* * *

"We're all gonna die!" screamed the former helmsman of Zuko's ship, now the helmsman on Zhao's forty-seventh ship. 

"We are _not_ going to die," Jee shouted back. "Just avoid the spirit and we'll be fine!"

"But the ocean spirit is trying to kill us!" wailed the helmsman.

This was hardly any different of a scene than what had passed between these two old friends when the entire Northern Water Tribe had started to glow blue. And when the giant, fish-like being had risen up from somewhere near the top.

There was a white bubble inside of the spirit's chest, which contained a man-shaped form that seemed to be echoing its movement. Jee superstitiously avoided looking at it lest the controller of this great being set its sights on this one little ship.

As if that thought had called it, the spirit raised its arms in a motion much like the Waterbending that Jee had seen in ancient scrolls. It seemed the comparison was correct, because as the spirit moved, the ocean moved with it in a powerful wave.

"We're gonna die!" the helmsman despaired again.

Jee couldn't argue with him.

* * *

By the time the entire crew was once again conscious, they saw in the sky the moon. 

"So the balance remains," Jee whispered. Nobody heard him.

But they were alive. The Ocean Spirit's wave had only pushed them out to see, sparing their lives.

Whether that meant that the spirit had seen some good in them, or whether they were just lucky, they would never know. But maybe, Jee reflected, it was better that way.

"Lieutenant?" asked a voice from behind him. Turning, he found the crew watching him carefully from every angle.

"What do we do now?" the helmsman asked in a small voice.

Jee turned and looked out across the bow of his ship at the battle behind them. He turned his eyes to his friends surrounding him.

"Set a course," Jee said, "For home."

* * *

Special thanks to _Voyager_ for the last line, which is exactly what their Captain says at the end. This turned out much better than I expected it to. Anyway, I have a long weekend on account of Veteran's Day so maybe you'll see that Ozai story up soon. Hope you enjoyed it! 


	7. Victory

Erm... Really sorry, there, I know I said I'd get the one with Ozai up soon, but I couldn't, and this one kinda wrote itself. It was originally intended to be from Iroh's point of view, but I thought that it would be better seen through the eyes of a random soldier. He could be any Firebender we see throughout the series. Actually... you know, I think I'm going to like this story.

No offense meant to Earth Kingdom supporters, Than's just a Fire Nation guy, he can't help it that he was always taught that they stunk. I'm an Earth Element myself, so you can imagine how much writing that stunk.

Dedication: _Because you complained, and obsessed, and grumbled, and whined. But you were still a friend I could never lose._

Than wished he had never been born.

Or had just stayed in the nice, warm, comfortable Fire Nation instead of going to the smelly old Earth Kingdom to _rot_. That would be nice too.

And why did it rain in the Earth Kingdom? It almost _never_ rained in the Fire Nation, so when it did, it was a novelty. It was amazing, and everyone loved it. Something new. Almost every time it rained, you could see a small child experiencing the event for the first time. Than and his brothers and sisters always used to run outside, just to feel the strange sensation of water soaking through their clothes and smacking their skin. Water. From the sky. Amazing.

Than hated the rain now. It rained so much in the Earth Kingdom. His older brother Shen had told him that it was rainy season. He had said that as soon as they got into Ba Sing Se, things would get better. They'd be indoors, for one thing.

Unfortunately, there was the small problem that they _weren't_ getting into Ba Sing Se. And the last time they had tried, Shen had been killed.

Than had tried to get through to the Earthbender who had done it, but he couldn't. So now Shen was dead, and he couldn't even be avenged in the traditional means of their people.

Sometimes, Than really hated his life.

And to make things better, he _still_ hadn't gotten around to telling their parents. General Iroh would be sending an official letter any day now, and if Than wanted them to hear it from him first, he had better get out that quill and parchment.

But he didn't _want_ to. He was tired, he was wet, and some part of him didn't want his parents getting a letter that smelled of Earth Kingdom. The Earth Kingdom was filthy.

Of course, the letter that the General sent would smell of Earth Kingdom just as much as his would. But that didn't make it any better.

Anyway, there was no way the General would be writing a letter any time soon. He and a select few elite Firebenders had snuck into the city and were attempting to take it from the inside.

Than, of course, wasn't an elite Firebender, so if he wanted to beat the General to writing the letter, then he should get on it now, while Iroh was away.

He just didn't_ want_ to.

"Well, they have to know somehow," his friends reminded him. "You should just write it and get it over with. It's not like you'll be able to tell them in person anytime soon, anyway."

That was true. But he didn't have to like it.

"What do you want, Than?" they asked him. "You don't want to tell them, but you don't want them to hear it from anyone else, either."

"I just want to go home," Than muttered.

"But then we wouldn't have Ba Sing Se!" they would exclaim. "We wouldn't have victory if we turned around and ran. We can't go home until we have victory. If we don't have victory, what do we have?"

"Nothing," Than would reply time and again. This was a well-known fact in the Fire Nation. Ever since he was old enough to talk, people had asked him that question, as it was with every child in the Fire Nation.

And the answer was always the same.

"I wish this was all over," he told them sometimes.

"It will be," they replied in what they thought was a comforting manner. "Soon, we will break the wall. It has been over five hundred days. They will fall soon. Soon we will have Ba Sing Se. Soon we will have victory."

_Soon, _Than told himself_, we will be home._

Except he knew that wasn't going to happen. That was what they said when he had arrived. "We've been here for over a hundred days, now, Than, we'll be home soon."

That's what Shen had said when he had arrived. "They've been here for over two hundred days, now, Than, we'll be home soon."

The three hundredth day passed without comment, except for the everlasting "Soon there will be victory." By then, the sentiment that soon they would be home went unexpressed.

Four hundred days came and went without a problem. "We _have_ to get home soon, right, Shen?" Than had asked pleadingly as they watched the five hundredth day dawn.

"Soon there will be victory, Than," was all that Shen could say.

It wasn't until weeks later that Than would notice that his brother had said nothing of home. Only victory. That was all there was. Without victory, there would be no home. There would be nothing.

And then, on the five hundred and eighty-ninth day, Shen died.

"Your brother's sacrifice will not be in vain," they told him. "Soon we will have victory."

By now, Than wasn't even expecting them to say anything of home. Victory. Break through the walls, and they would have Ba Sing Se. Take Ba Sing Se, and they would have victory. And as soon as they had victory, they would have something, something other than the endless round of 'soon's and fruitless promises marking the number of days they had been there.

After the five hundred and ninetieth day passed, Than stopped counting. There was no point in numbers. Numbers were not victory, numbers were not soon. Victory would get them home. Nothing else.

And then, one day, the elite team returned... without General Iroh or his son, Lu Ten. What had happened to the two royals was unknown.

There was no question of leaving without their leaders. But as the days passed, and the rain began to abate into a different season, everyone became a little restless. _When will we go home?_ they wondered. And perhaps someone from another nation would have said that, but the Fire Nation was stronger.

"When will we achieve victory?" they asked.

But nobody had an answer.

And as the days continued to flow past them, their questions changed.

"When will we go home?" they asked.

But nobody had an answer.

Finally, one day, someone who did arrived. General Iroh had returned. The questions quickly changed, and all hint of weakness was erased.

But one brave man who Than didn't know asked the question.

"General Iroh?" he asked. "When will we go home?"

This question had been asked before, countless times. Everyone prepared to see the General straighten up as he always did and roar "When we achieve victory!"

But he didn't.

"Home..." he murmured. "I think it's time we went home..."

"But why?" someone asked, shocked. "We haven't achieved victory yet!"

"I am tired," General Iroh replied softly. "We are all tired." He paused for a moment, as everyone waited for him to finish. Tired was not an excuse. Weakness was no substitute for victory.

"There is nothing that can be gained from Ba Sing Se sufficient to replace what we have lost to these walls. Victory is nothing."

No ripple of whispers brushed through the gathering people as it should have. They couldn't say anything.

Victory was nothing? But there was nothing without victory...

Without victory, Than had spent years in a strange country he hated. He had lost his brother, and hadn't seen his surviving family since his departure.

And they still hadn't achieved victory. Maybe... just maybe... someday, something would make up for that. To replace what he had lost. If that was possible. But for now...

For now, they were going home.


	8. Trust and Fear

Well, I'm back. I've been busy lately, but since I dropped ice skating I might actually have time to write on Saturdays. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but things are getting hectic. Anyway, I was a little nervous about writing this one, so let's see how it'll turn out, shall we?

Man, this is taking _forever_ to write. It just won't go. I've had at least two chapters up since starting this. Sorry, folks. Gahh! I finished it Sunday night, honestly. But the website wouldn't let me on. Sorry.

Anyway, a few notes about this chapter: What the little girl calls her mother is Mamma. That's not her mother's name, or a typo, it's just her way of pronouncing Mama. It's pronounced Maahmuh instead of Mawmuh. That's what I used to call my mother when I was really young.

I've always seen Ozai as unfeeling, partially because that's how his favorite child seems to be, and also because, to me, a man who could destroy so many lives must not be able to care about them. Whether that's because he doesn't understand them, or just because he doesn't care, I don't know, but he doesn't.

This was inspired by a quote that I heard somewhere: "People need your love the most when they appear to deserve it the least."

_Dedication: Because I was always the practical one. And you never asked why._

* * *

Ozai was born with the ability to get through anything. Nothing ever fazed him, nothing confused him, nothing ever broke his calm. He would act just the same to his son as to any other failure, and he did. Nothing ever mattered other than protecting his country from those who would stand it the way of making it strong.

At least, that's what he told himself.

It was very rare for a Fire Lord to leave the capital, but it was done. Every Fire Lord did it at some point, for some reason.

And now it was his turn. He was touring a few minor villages in the Earth Kingdom to get an appraisal of the situation. Nobody but his highest-up officers knew he was gone, and the few he encountered on his journey would know him only as a minor general.

As always, Ozai was completely detached from the situation. He honestly didn't care one way or another about these people, but it was his duty to know how they lived, in order to know them and be able to plan around their naturally irrational actions. And so for a short while, he would walk among them.

Not _as_ one of them, but among them. It didn't make a difference.

_These people,_ Ozai decided, _are completely boring. They are not worth my time, and they should be grateful that I don't decide to kill them just so that they will be more interesting._

He was perched on a bench outside of a tavern. The people in the tavern were drunk, naturally, so they didn't notice him. Or didn't care. Ozai, honestly, couldn't spare a thought for them.

Not that he was sitting outside of the tavern for any particular reason. To keep his cover, he wasn't allowed into any meetings a general of his ranking wouldn't be. That disturbed him, slightly. He hadn't been left out of a meeting since many years before he had taken the throne. He was the Fire Lord!

But, as the Fire Lord, he must think rationally about every situation. He must appraise it carefully. He must appear to his people to be in control, no matter what was happening. He must not show weakness. He must not even be a person in their eyes.

And when he examined it the cool, comprised way he was expected to, he knew that it was for the best. His generals feared him. They would never even consider turning against him, or saying _anything_ in a meeting that would be considered treasonous. Ozai did not trust his generals, but he trusted their fear. Fear could be trusted.

And fear, unlike the respect and love preached by the fools in this village, was continuous. If a man feared something, he would fear it for many years, particularly if the danger never changed. But if a man loved something, his view of it was fleeting and perpetually altering to fit his newest thought. Love did not guarantee trustworthiness. Only fear could do that.

Ozai watched the people of the Earth Kingdom scurry about in their small way, in their small town, worrying about their small business and their small lives. Did they fear him?

Did they fear the Fire Nation? Did they fear the soldiers who looked at them through hardened eyes? Did they fear the people who could end their lives with a slight change in their manners?

_Yes,_ he decided_, as it was predicted when the war began, it is over today. They fear us. They will not fight back. We may not have the world, but we have the people in it. We have control over their fear._

While he was preoccupied, a small figure came up from around the corner and sat down besides him.

"Hi," the child said. "Are you new?"

Ozai stared blankly at her. She was a little girl of perhaps about six years old, her long hair combed and braided in a manner that must have taken much effort. He wondered who had done it for her, or if she had done it herself. Why would someone go into all that trouble for the hair of a child?

A very brave little girl indeed, to have come up to him like that. She had no way of knowing that he was the Fire Lord, but she must be able to recognize the uniform of a Fire Nation soldier. They had probably occupied her hometown for as long as she could remember. Why had her parents not taught her to fear him? Who would put so much effort into a child's hair, but not even tell her that she was to fear?

"Why do you ask?" Ozai replied noncommittally.

"I know all the soldiers," she replied proudly. "You've never been here before."

"You know every soldier who is stationed in this village?" the Fire Lord asked incredulously. The girl must be lying.

"I sure do!" answered the child. "My Mamma says that the only way not to fear someone is to really know them. If you don't know somebody, she says, you can hate them and hurt them and be afraid of them, because you don't understand them."

"Fearing people can be good sometimes," Ozai told her. "The soldiers here are only hear because the Fire Nation took over your village. If your ancestors hadn't been so trusting, the war would never have begun. You could be living without the Fire Nation in your home."

"Oh, well," the Earth Kingdom youngster replied. "We're not, and I don't like being afraid of people. It makes me feel bad, and it probably makes _them_ feel bad, too. I mean, _I_ wouldn't like people to be afraid of me. Would you?"

"The more people are afraid of you, the less likely they will do you harm. You cannot trust anything but fear. Fear is more deeply embedded in human nature than any other trait. There _is_ nothing else."

"Yes, there is!" she insisted. "What about my Mamma and my Daddy? I can trust them, because they're my family and they love me. But they're not afraid of me. So why can you trust your parents?"

"Love?" Ozai asked sarcastically. "A fleeting emotion. It cannot be depended upon, cannot be predicted. It can be faked, and is, so often. It can change. Fear cannot. Fear is the one eternal factor."

The girl shook her head. "But if someone is afraid of you, then they don't like you. If they think that they can escape you, they will. Love is what makes you want to trust someone, and be trusted by them. Fear is ob-edi-ence," she ended her momentary hesitation over such a big word with "that's what Mamma says."

Ozai wondered if she really understood what he was saying, or was she just quoting her mother? He had never known a child to understand so much. But then... she lived in the Earth Kingdom. He had never known a child from the Earth Kingdom.

But while things were different there, they weren't different in the way that he would expect would make a child understand things. Children in the Earth Kingdom were stupid. There was no reason for her to know what he was talking about.

There was no reason for him to believe her.

Ozai stood up abruptly and turned to leave. "Trust is not what is important," he said sharply. "In the Fire Nation, we do not require trust from our subordinates. Only obedience."

The little girl looked up at him with such an absence of fear that for a moment, he was taken aback. The rest of this village feared him. Why didn't she?

"That's too bad," she replied simply. "Because then you can never really love people. And that's really, really sad."

Ozai turned and hurried away.

* * *

As he left that place, several days later, he came across a group of children, waving goodbye. Their parents rushed them inside with fear in their eyes, but there was something he had seen on the faces of those youngsters that he hadn't seen in a long, long time.

No fear. And no fear meant no control.

Perhaps, Ozai decided, this war was not yet won.


	9. Proved Wrong

Well, I'm back. Happy holidays to you all, since at the rate I'm going, I'm not getting anything up for a while. I'll try, I promise.

This story was invented by Goshzilla-1 on IMDb. He/she is brilliant, and I take no credit for the idea of writing from the prisoners' points of view. I don't take credit for writing Avatar, either, just for actually writing this.

It takes place after the episode _Avatar Day_, but before the finale.

Pronunciation guide: Xuo: Jeuh-ooh-oh. (The beginning of Zhao's name, followed by two grunts) Poen: Poe-en.(The poet followed by 'and' without the 'd'.) Kresh: Kerr-esh. (Crash with an 'E')

_Dedication: Because you pretended nothing was wrong. There are worse lies to tell._

Chin always assumed, being named after a hero, he would do great things. Of course, as the Avatar proved, Chin the Conqueror wasn't much of a hero. That was okay. Neither was Chin.

Xuo was Chin's best friend in the little jail cell they all shared. King (that's what everyone called him, they didn't really know his real name) rarely came out of his dark corner and always tried to steal their food when he did. Poen never seemed quite sure whose side he was on in the little prison-cell war. There was also Kresh, who was only in jail every once in a while. He kept getting released and coming back.

Things were falling into a nice routine. They all did the same things every day. It was boring, but at least it wasn't hard. It could be worse, they reminded each other.

One day, the Avatar appeared. Everyone thought that was odd. What was the Avatar doing in jail?

King didn't even lift his head. It was uncertain whether the Avatar actually knew he was there at all. Kresh was overcome with a bout of shyness and stayed in the back.

Poen tried to take a leaf out of King's book and intimidate the boy, but he tried to take a leaf out of Xuo's book at the same time and befriend him. By the end of the conversation, they had one very confused Avatar, and a sore Poen (he had forgotten that he had a chain around his neck and tried to lunge forward).

But before long, the tiny power was being given advice and telling jokes like he'd been there for years.

"My friend Sokka," Avatar Aang told them, "thinks he's a detective."

"What, trying to prove your innocence?" teased Chin.

The boy bobbed his head.

"Well, that's not gonna do much good if you ain't," drawled Poen. Everyone turned to the Avatar. It hadn't ever occurred to him that this force of good in the world could actually be guilty of the crime that he was accused of.

"_Are_ you innocent?" asked Xuo.

"Of course I am!" exclaimed Aang indignantly. After a moment, though, he sighed and leaned back against the wall. "I think. It was in a past life. I can't remember."

"You're lucky," commented King.

"That I can't remember?" asked Aang.

"And you have a chance," the reclusive murderer replied.

The Avatar shrugged. "It's not like I have anything everyone else doesn't. I mean, I didn't do it, or probably didn't, but good things happen to everyone."

"What good can happen to us?" asked Chin. He pointed around him. "King is to be executed next week. Xuo has a life sentence, and his family doesn't have the money to pay bail. I've been completely forgotten about, since nobody I wronged cares if I die, and nobody who cares about me remembers, if they're still alive. Kresh is the only one who'll get out of this..." He corrected his language for the child, "bad place. And he's going to be back in within a week, guarantee it."

Aang looked around, surprised to see nobody protesting. No one told Chin that someone undoubtedly remembered him. Nobody suggested that Xuo might be released, that King would escape or be rescued, that Kresh would change his ways.

Because, he realized, Chin was telling the exact truth as he knew it. None of them had a chance.

Well, if they wouldn't believe, Aang would just have to believe for them.

"Chin, you're not a very forgettable person," he said. "You'll see, somebody is waiting for you. They'll show up eventually. Xuo, how do you know your family won't find some money? And King, how do _you_ know something won't come up? What about you, Kresh, you can find a way."

Everyone expressed their disbelief with varying levels of annoyance. But none of them admitted that it was nice, for once, to dream of a way out.

The very next week, King was executed. The Avatar's prediction was proved wrong.

The week after that, Kresh was released. He swore to himself that he would take the Avatar's words to heart. Just because it didn't work for King, after all, didn't mean it wouldn't work for Kresh.

His own doubts, after all, needed to be proved wrong.

He opened a restaurant, selling lots of Avatar Day-style food. As it turned out, the boy had missed his calling. He managed to make the unfried festival food taste, strangely enough, halfway decent. Everyone hoped that the Avatar would come back someday to find the changes he had made.

After a while, he had saved quite a bit of money. He gave it all to Xuo's family, and they promptly got him released.

So Chin was in their once-shared cell on his own now. He knew that between them, Xuo and Kresh would have enough money sooner or later to get him out. Mayor Tong wasn't so sure.

"That's why they call it 'Justice'," the mayor said. "Because it's Just." Everyone within earshot rolled their eyes at the obvious statement.

"Really," commented Chin. "I thought it was 'just us'?" Fidgeting slightly at the reminder of his treatment of the Avatar, Tong left.

And Chin settled down to wait. They said he had no chance. Eventually, though, they'd be proved wrong.


	10. Bird

Happy 2007! This bounced into my head while I was on the beach with my cousins in California. I really did see something exactly like what I'm about to describe. Then I went home, but now I'm writing this.

Why do I keep writing about Fire Nation people? You know what? I'm changing it. This isn't a Fire Nation guy at all anymore. Now it's... uhmm... gonna take me a while, but I'll decide who the character is. Preferably _before_ I start writing.

Ha! I've figured it out. Now, the war is over in this chapter, but the world is taking a bit of... well... it's having a hard time pulling itself together. This is the rebuilding of a world from the point of view of a small child who only has legends to explain why things are so bad.

* * *

Hope perched on a rock and watched as Ghashuin threw another stone in the river. She and her family had met up with a tribe of 'sandbenders' from a desert who were also looking for a home, and the two groups were traveling together to the port city of Yane. 

Things would be better when they got to the ocean. They could learn to fish, and gather pretty shells to make jewelry out of. Not that jewelry was in high demand. People were more likely to spend their money on food than trinkets, but you never knew. It was better than what they were selling now, which was exactly the same thing they had in such abundance.

Nothing.

"Let's go, kids," Hope's mother called. Ghashuin glared at being called a 'kid,' and Hope hopped to her feet.

"I'm coming, Mommy," she replied, running towards her parents. Her father laughed and lifted her up onto his shoulders as he started walking.

"Daddy?" asked Hope from her father's shoulders.

"Yes, Hope?" he replied.

"How do we know we're going to get to the ocean from here?" she questioned.

"We're following the river, Hope," he explained. "The river flows into the see. Look," he pointed at the small ripples in the water. "That's called the 'current'. You can see which direction the current's flowing in from the way the water moves. We'll follow the current all the way to where the river ends."

"The ocean?"

"The ocean."

They reached the ocean by the end of the day, to Hope's delight. As usual, Ghashuin was asked to watch her while the adults wondered about which direction Yane was. She tugged on his hands, leading the disgusted teen towards the ocean.

The wind knocked her hair into her face, and the ocean was terribly loud. The tips of the waves were white, roaring towards her like a monster until she screamed and hid behind Ghashuin. Now she understood how the Waterbender in the stories her parents told her about the Avatar was always so feared. There was more power in the ocean than she had ever seen before.

"Where does it end?" she asked Ghashuin.

"What?"

"The ocean. I don't see the ending. Where is it?"

Ghashuin squinted. "It's probably like the desert," he decided. "The ending's so far away, you can't see it."

"But it does end, doesn't it?" asked Hope. She had a sudden image of the entire world beyond where they were standing covered in water.

"Eventually," he replied. They paused for a moment, both staring at the ocean. Neither had ever seen anything quite like it.

"Look, Ghashuin, there's a bird!" she shouted, pointing at the tiny creature. It was perched next to the ocean, taking no notice of the danger it was in.

"Yes, a bird," he agreed wearily.

"Oh, no!" screamed Hope as the waves started to crash down near the bird. They looked like they would rise up the tiny slope and engulf the oblivious animal. Ghashuin grabbed the child to keep her from running into the ocean after it.

The waves washed up around the bird, not quite reaching it. Hope laughed in delight. Ghashuin blinked, wondering how the bird knew it was in no danger. The bird didn't even twitch.

A little further on, another bird pecked at the ground partway into the water, ignoring the wetness around it. Something very big was moving deep in the ocean, and the sky was filled with more birds.

Hope screeched again as another wave came crashing down, stopping barely an inch before the bird's tail. It didn't even twitch.

"I'm going to name it Bravey," she told Ghashuin, grinning with relief. "Because it isn't afraid of the water."

"Neither are those birds," Ghashuin pointed out, gesturing at the birds that were eating in the water.

"Yes, but they're bigger," Hope replied. "Bravey's little, just like me. And he doesn't even have to look!" she started to run down towards the ocean, probably trying to see if she could tell when the waves were coming, just like 'Bravey'.

Ghashuin didn't wait to see if she could, grabbing her wrist and dragging her back. Hope didn't seem deterred by this at all.

"Come here, Bravey," she cooed. "Come over here!" The bird didn't even twitch.

Ghashuin rolled his eyes and tried to distract his young charge with building walls out of the wet sand. He'd never seen sand this wet before, and never managed to build anything out of it. Now, though, they had half of a model of Ba Sing Se done before their parents figured out where they would go next.

As the two ran off, a wave crashed down on their construction, completely obliterating their city from life.

The bird didn't even twitch.

* * *

Well, that turned out differently than I expected, a lot more lighthearted, but I liked it. What do you think? Oh, in case you forgot, Hope is the baby born outside of Ba Sing Se, and Ghashuin is the boy who steals Appa. This is set about five years after the war ends. 


End file.
